FORMER PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee head Celso Dayrit has resigned as president of the Southeast Asian Games Federation Council. Dayrit, also head of the fencing association, will formalize his resignation during the council’s final meeting on April 29 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
The 11-member SEAG Federation Council is expected to elect POC head Jose Cojuangco Jr. to replace Dayrit. The post is usually reserved to the Olympic committee president of the host country. Cojuangco took over as POC head last November.
"I think that the SEAG Federation Council president should be the president of the host country and I hope that the Council members will see it fit to elect Mr. Cojuangco to the position," said Dayrit, who served as POC president from 1999 to 2004.
The council is made up of various heads of national Olympic committees affiliated with the SEA Games. The members vote on various issues concerning the conduct of the games as well as the sports and number of events that are to be played during the biennial meet.
Although the host country can influence many aspects of the games, the members, by a majority vote, could work together to push a particular agenda such as limiting or increasing the number of events in a particular sport.
Dayrit had long been expected to give up the council presidency which he assumed by virtue of his position as POC president. Though he can stay on as president if he wants to, such act would go against tradition as the position was precisely reserved for the NOC chief of the host country.
Members of the SEAG Federation Council who will attend the meeting are Prince Haji Sufri Bolkia (Brunei), Dr. My Sameda (Cambodia), Agum Gumelar (Indonesia), Dr. Phoutong Seng-Akhorn (Laos), Prince Tunku Imran (Malaysia), Gen. Thura Aye Myint (Myanmar), Rear Admiral Chee Hean Teo (Singapore), Maj. Gen. Charouck Airachakarn (Thailand), M. Nguyen Danh Thai (Vietnam) and Joao Veigas Carrascaiao (East Timor).
Meanwhile, the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) headed by Roberto Pagdanganan will present to the Council the official logo and mascot, and the final venues and schedules of 41 sports calendared in the biennial meet slated Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.
Twenty-five sports will be played in Metro Manila, seven in Cebu, four each in Bacolod City and Subic Bay Freeport, two in Tagaytay City and one each in Los Baños, Laguna and Silang, Cavite.
The Philippines is going to spend
R1.5 billion for this year’s SEA Games, which the country also hosted in 1981 and 1991. —Jean MALANUM 
